Sunday 4 September 2011

Riding out the storm

As the serpentine Lord Voldemort, Ralph Fiennes proved he can brandish a wand with malicious intent. Now, as he steps into the shoes of one of the literary grandfathers of nuanced magic, Shakespeare’s Prospero, it’s clear that Fiennes can summon up even greater powers. Headlining Trevor Nunn’s strictly-limited run of The Tempest, he quietly commands the stage- delivering Prospero’s rich monologues with a brilliantly subtle conviction. It’s not an overstated performance, as the character of Prospero tends to be with all its emphasis on magic and vengeance, and I think it works well within Nunn’s somewhat anachronistic approach to the play’s staging. This is a production that relies less on a hi-tech bag of tricks to create illusion than on aerial pulleys upon which acrobatic cast members pivot and fly above the stage- an unusual throwback to an Elizabethan system of wires and winches that is refreshing in our technological age. Yet although Nunn’s play is grounded in tradition, I felt the opening tempest itself was disappointingly unconvincing- as if the sound effect box was at its lowest volume. Given that this is the eponymous tempest, it was not nearly dramatic enough and, in my opinion, a hugely imbalanced spectacle. Quieter moments could have benefitted from a few better-timed violent thunderclaps, whilst the ones that did boom and crash served only to drown out some of the script’s key lines. The projection of moving waves, with the actors acrobatically spinning in tandem behind, seemed a bit flat- imaginative circus acts may be entertaining, but they do not whip up a credible storm. Later, the visionary dogs that hound Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban seemed almost laughable as cast members pounced onstage on all fours-another instance when a bit of CGI wouldn’t have gone amiss. The age-old problem with Shakespeare is how difficult it is to be inventive- and I felt that Nunn lacked fresh inspiration. Technology aside, though, Nunn returns to the kernel of reconciliation and amnesty at the play’s heart- in its own way, this is what is truly refreshing about the production. Prospero is, above all, the father to Miranda- and much is made of this raw human relationship, a thoroughly modern take on what is essentially a wronged single parent preparing to relinquish his only child to a restorative marriage. The other cast members brilliantly help to weave this very human element. Nicholas Lyndhurst, aka Rodney from Only Fools and Horses, gets second billing as the hapless court jester Trinculo. Although odd that this role should be made so prominent, given that he has so few lines, Lyndhurst’s comic timing is spot on, especially when paired with the inebriated Stephano. Tom Byam Shaw does a sprightly, if somewhat camp, turn as the spirit Ariel (I couldn't help being reminded strongly of Zoolander). A little controversially, but perhaps not surprisingly, Nunn has exploited the play’s central colonialist theme too, casting the play’s only black actor Giles Terera as the enslaved Caliban. It’s a brave move but one that works- Terera performs the role of the bitterly tormented monster with moving pathos and, although he is supposedly “misshapen”, his six-pack looked just fine from where I was sitting. For all this great acting, though, when Prospero finally delivers the well-known epilogue, it’s welcome relief from a play that does tend to drag its feet. Fiennes powerfully begs our indulgence and, as he slowly exits the bare stage through a simple wooden door, it’s clear that this is the calm after the storm. The chance to see the magnificent Fiennes onstage is rare- so if you can get tickets for this extremely limited season, then do. Sadly, though, this production doesn’t quite conjure up modern magic, even with Voldemort in its midst. 

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